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Evil Dead series offers light to horror revisits

If anything’s constantly rising from the dead in the horror world, it’s the tale themselves. These Texan massacres are endless and good ol’ Jason Voorhees has been shown to us so many times that he feels like a family friend, albeit a deadly one.

It’s a simple solution for a need for quick money: release a movie on an already established brand. The marketing team doesn’t have to work as hard; let the legend ride itself into the wallets of moviegoers. Foolproof.

I have nothing against remakes or the continuation of a series. Ask me what my favorite films of the genre are, and it’ll only take a few seconds before I’ll let you know how deep The Thing rests in my heart. Unlike sad attempts such as 2006’s The Omen, it deepened the audience’s fear by building off an enhanced, standalone story. There were no pointless references to the original nor could the film’s events be completely predicted through the lazy writing-in of tropes.

photo courtesy of 20th Century Fox

The Evil Dead remake was brought to us two years ago. It’s nothing more than alright and doesn’t merit the rewatches the cult classics deserve, but it did usher in a new era for the franchise, one that seems promising.

Ash vs. Evil Dead, which is only months away from its fall debut on Starz, is the next step in our delightfully cocky protagonist’s journey. Yes, the evil dead will rush back into the world, and yes Bruce Campbell will be reprising his role, but an interview with Bloody Disgusting reveals that there’s more to the show than a simple revisit.

“He’s no finer, nobler nor saner of a character than when we last saw him,” said series creator Sam Raimi. “In fact, I think he’s digressed. He’s clearly aged quite a bit. And his courage hasn’t been whipped up to a frenzy. [He’s at] his lowest instincts and that’s where we find him – and from that low point, that’s the start of our show.”

Things have settled down for the fella. We’re being given a new Ash, one not as confidant as he once was. Campbell elaborated on the matter with an Entertainment Weekly interview released yesterday.

photo courtesy of Entertainment Weekly

“He was perfectly happy doing basically nothing: telling lies about how he lost his hand in bars late at night,” Campbell said. “That was basically his MO. So, he’s not really the guy who should be dealing with this right now. But…he is. He’s our guy!”

Ash has always been on his game, and other than being incapable of remembering a few words, he’s done pretty well for himself. The idea of a time-torn version of our guy is enticing. It’s obvious that this show won’t be a replica of anything else in the franchise.

There has been a lot of online craving for the series, so much so that it’s bound to draw in viewers by the millions when the time comes. I’m putting my money on it pushing Starz forward.

In the meantime, the Pet Sematary remake is in development and the world of Halloween will be broken into again, this time without the insightful mind of Rob Zombie. In all of this mediocrity, Ash vs. Evil Dead is a guiding light, and it’s one that production companies should follow if they’re so insistent on not creating new horror content.

The remake will always be a part of the film industry; this will never die. Whether the approach changes is a different story.